


Flowers yet to bloom

by gh0ulfriend



Category: Original Work
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, I think? If it's not lemme know, Implied crushss, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0ulfriend/pseuds/gh0ulfriend
Summary: I never saw him that winter.Well, I saw him once.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	Flowers yet to bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Main POV: Kaine, a 10 year old boy with orange hair and green eyes, he likes to put his hair up in a small ponytail
> 
> The neighbor kid: Kendall, a shy 9 year old with brown eyes and long brown hair that looks like it's almost never been cut, with a speech impediment, selective mutism, and cats
> 
> WARNINGS: implied child abuse/neglect/isolation, possible misgendering (the trans character has not realized he is trans and is referred to with she/her & feminine terms)

_I never saw him that winter._

_Well, I saw him once._

* * *

I heard that someone was moving in next door a few days ago, so when I got home after momma picked me up from school and I saw a moving van and a woman who looked like she was my momma's age I wasn't too surprised, but what _did_ surprise me was the person holding a cat carrier, it was a kid! a kid that looked my age!

My school friends are all cool, but none of my neighbors have ever been my age, I could have a super close friend!! We could have sleepovers and play video games and watch TV and-

"-aine! Kaine! Pumpkin it's not polite to stare at people, we'll go say hi to the neighbors later, come get inside I might make you some hot chocolate!" Momma was pushing me inside our house, I wanted to talk now but they _did_ look pretty busy, and I did want some hot chocolate... I'll probably talk to that kid at school tomorrow!

* * *

It's been a few weeks since the neighbors moved in, me and momma went over to say hi but the neighbor kid's momma said her daughter was still tired from the move..maybe that's why she's not at school yet? I hope I'll get to meet her soon, I hope she likes the cookies we made for them!! I made some in the shape of a cat since she has one.

I wonder what kind of games she likes? And shows....I hope she likes iCarly!!

* * *

Maybe now that it's spring she'll be at school..? I asked momma why the neighbor girl wasn't at my school and she said she could go to a different school or that she might be homeschooled...I wanna meet her, I wonder if she likes bugs? I should go look for cool ones to give her when I meet her!!!

I grabbed one of the plastic tubs momma puts food in sometimes, I opened the door to the backyard and made sure to close it, I wanted to skip a few of the steps on the stairs but momma gets worried when I do that...

Usually I find cool bugs near the fence so I'll start there! I wonder if she likes beetles?

Before I could think of any other bugs she might like I glanced up at the neighbors backyard and gasped, it was her! She was outside!! It looked like she was gardening, my momma does that too!

"Hey! Hey you're the new neighbor! Hello!! My names Kaine! What's your name?" I always got excited when I meet new people, momma says I should always try to calm down a little though, so I tried my best to not get too excited.

"Huh- a-ah, u-uhm.." Why did she look scared? I didn't yell too loud, did I?

"Ah! Sorry if I yelled to much, I'm just excited to meet you!" I laughed a little but it didn't seem to help that much..

"I-I-I...m-my n..my name's um, it's..Kendall...I'm not suppose t' talk to strangers.." She talks a little weird, that's cool!

"Hi Kendall!! It's fine, we can be friends!" When I said that she looked at me, she didn't look as nervous as before, I think saying we can be friends helped!

"And we can hang out! Especially when we go to school I can-" I was about to finish talking, the look on her face changed from small excitement and she looked scared again.

"I hav- I have to go now! Bye!" She dropped the plant she was holding and ran inside her house, I hope I didn't make her mad..I don't wanna get in trouble, maybe she thinks I have cooties..?

* * *

It's been a few months since I first talked to Kendall, it's June now..

"Mommaaaa why doesn't Kendall wanna be my friend?" I was next to momma in the kitchen while she was making lunch.

"Well, maybe she's just shy? She _did_ move here not too long ago, and since she hasn't gone to school yet, her mom probably teaches her at home, want some egg?" Momma handed me a boiled egg, I nodded and mumbled out a thank you while I was eating it, she laughed and patted me on the hand.

"How about next time you see her, you try talking to her about something you like? And ask her what she likes, maybe she's like you and can't stop talking when someone mentions Speed Racer!" Momma was right, next time I see Kendall I'll talk to her about one of my favorite books!

After lunch I grabbed Warrior Cats, I made sure it was the first one so if Kendall wanted to borrow it she wouldn't be confused!

Luckily I saw her planting some flowers again in her backyard, I wonder what kind they are..

"U-uhm, hi! I'm sorry if I scared you off last time we talked." I made sure not to yell, even if I was excited, momma told me some people don't like loud things so it's not nice to yell. Kendall looked at me and I thought she was gonna run inside again but she walked over when she saw the book I was holding.

"..kitty?" Was all she said when she pointed to my book, I nodded and handed it to her over the fence.

"Yeah! It's called Warrior Cats, it's this super cool book series about cats who have their own clans and stuff! You can borrow it if you want!" She started to look nervous again, maybe she already read it?

"I- uhm..uhm..the kitty is really cute but..um..I can't..wead.." ..huh? What do weeds gotta do with books?

"But don't you garden? I dunno what weeds have to do with this but you pull them up, right?" She handed the book back to me and before I could say anything she spoke first.

"No I..I can't re-r- I can't we- I- can't unnerstand stuff that people wr-wr- that people ri- stuff people _write._ " She had a really tough time trying to say all that..I started to feel bad that I brought a book, I hope she's not upset again..

"That's okay! I can read it to you! That's what I do sometimes with my friends little brother, I can do it for you too!!" She gasped and smiled, this was the first time I saw her smile!

"Re-wea-really?! Thank you!! Should we do it at your house? I can ask my mommy if I can go!" I nodded and told her I'd ask my momma if she could come over, we ended up spending almost the entire day together!! I hope we can hang out more!

* * *

"Momma is Kendall okay? I haven't seen her for a few weeks.." I tugged on momma's pants and she leaned down and held my hands.

"It's alright honey, Kendall is just a little sick, I went to see her mom yesterday and she said Kendall had gotten a cold, I'm sure she'll be okay soon." I hugged momma and told her I'd pick out some books to read to Kendall when she's better, she looked surprised for some reason but said okay and just patted my head before I ran to my room.

* * *

I'm sleepy..I got up to go to the bathroom, I think one of the clocks said it was 10:35..I've never been up this late..

Before I opened the bathroom door I heard momma talking to daddy, normally I wouldn't have payed attention but I heard them say Kendall's name..

"-nd the woman hasn't even taught her daughter how to read yet! She's almost _10_ and Kaine says he reads his books to her, it's so sweet but how has she not helped her child read yet?"

"Maybe she just has a hard time reading? It can be difficult for younger kids."

"I know but...I just don't know if I like her mother, you know what she did when I went over to ask if Kendall could hang out with Kaine? She said Kendall was sick and when I asked if she was alright, if they had gone to the doctor, she _scoffed_ at me, she said they don't go to the doctor."

"She- what? She _said_ that? About her 9 year old child?"

I didn't really understand what they were talking about, I would have listened more but I remembered the reason I woke up opened the bathroom door.

I hope Kendall is okay..

* * *

A few weeks after that, it was the beginning of July, Kendall was okay now! I read her some of the new Warriors books I got, I'm glad she got better so we can watch fireworks together! Her mommy and her came over to our house that night and we ate together and when we went outside to watch fireworks, Kendall held my hand cause I think she was scared of them..I told her I'd protect her though! So I held her hand tighter.

I'm glad it was night..I think I started to blush a little and it would be embarrassing if she saw.

I'm happy we're friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Kendall is a trans boy, this story takes place before he realizes and before he comes out to Kaine, Kendall is loosely based on myself, as I am a trans man and his home life is based on how I grew up, though with some exaggeration for a fictional story, or slight changes (I wasn't that interested in gardening as a kid, I dunno shit about plants) the story does use she/her for Kendall but it's not in a transphobic context.
> 
> Also I know nothing about warrior cats it's just the first book I thought of


End file.
